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"In all of us there is a hunger, marrow-deep, to know our heritage, to know who we are and where we have come from. Without this enriching knowledge there is a hollow yearning. No matter what our attainments in life, there is still a vacuum, an emptiness, and the most disquieting loneliness."

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Monday, November 30, 2009

Madness Monday - November 30, 2009

I've written many posts on the elusive father of William Bean [1792-1864], whom we believe to have been one William McBean, most probably of Ireland, but may have been of Scotland who knows...

We have provided proof of the existence of said William McBean, and his marriage to one Sarah Bane [whose own father was actually born with the surname Bean, and had changed his spelling to that of Bane], thus merging two lines of "Bean's" into one.

This couple did in fact reside in the area known as Stoney Creek, that little vale between steep mountain walls leading from Waiteville in what is present day West Virginia to Pembroke in Giles County, Virginia. [That passage is the only way out of Waiteville without crossing a steep mountain.]

From whence came old William McBean?

We know where he was when he married Miss Sarah Bane. But before that....from whence cameth he?

Family legend states that he served with Lord Cornwallis during the American Revolution. Alas, that is equivalent to my saying that my grandfather served under General Patton in World War II! It is a very broad statement that means very little except that the man was either a Loyalist or a soldier brought from the Continent to serve.

However, DNA testing may have reduced the questioning a bit. [Just a bit mind you!] DNA tests have linked us to a village in Ireland, along with about 20 other Irish descendants, whose DNA matches 12 markers of our own exactly. Of these 20 other individuals, their ancestors were conscripted during the American Revolution, and brought to the country [I say conscripted, however the Irish were more or less shanghaied!]

While we cannot find where our genealogy merges with these other individuals, they all have the Ireland's tiny hamlet in common. My theory is that our William was one of the men who was conscripted, brought to this country to serve with British during the War, and remained afterward.

Alas, yon William's trail is cold, and he did not leave much of a paper trail for our seaarch!

We know of at least 2 sons, although family legend names another: William, John and Roy [Roy being part of the family legend]. We know the following facts: in February of 1804, John, the eldest, was placed for indenture in the county, being 14. In September of the same year, William was also placed. [There is no paper trail for Roy, however, family legend states he went with William - did not like where he was and ran away, and William never heard of him again.]

In 1805, the property on Stoney Creek was sold for back taxes. And Sarah is found in Monroe County, owing "Nothing atall." Her only possessions her clothing and spinning wheel.

And from there, the trail runs cold for both.

Where oh where did you come from, William McBean? And where, oh where, did you go??? We know that you died, as Sarah is listed as a Widow in the 1805 tax rolls.

William, are you buried on the steep mountain sides of Stoney Creek? Were you lost forever to us?

These matters weigh upon my mind and I go mad wondering where the trail is for poor William McBean!

Alas, for my descendants, I hope to leave a paper trail that tells them all about me. [For starters, I've kept a diary since I was a teenager!] Then again, perhaps I'd best read over those diaries! Hmmm....

1 comment:

Just on "red flag" note: On the 1805 tax role, as "widow" - I've often found that does not always mean: "husband dead" - it can mean divorced, don't know where he is, don't want to know where he is, hope he never comes back... etc!

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